… with a dash of Boop-oop-ee-doop!

Cirque du Soleil Crystal in Tampa, Florida

I like to imagine there was once a conversation that went something like this:
“We have a bunch of talented people performing various dangerous acts. How could we make it more exciting?”“Blades on their feet?”
“Yes… Blades on their feet!”And from that Crystal was born.

Ok, it probably didn’t go like that, but Crystal flawlessly brings everything you love about Cirque to the ice. In the best way possible, there is so much going on during certain scenes that it’s warranted to suggest seeing the show twice in order to appreciate the skills that each artist displays individually. Without giving away too much, I saw an act or two that I had never seen before elsewhere (despite having been to multiple Cirque and wannabe shows) and ALL performances went above and beyond what I’ve seen and expected! The Cirque Du Soleil artists never fail to push their limits. Even the work of the tech crew seems to be mind-boggling difficult and intricate.

Tying these acts together is a lovely storyline that follows the “in her head a little too much” main character, Crystal, and her journey of self-discovery. Each individual act gives more to the plot and, unlike past Cirque shows, are performed to modern pop songs you might recognize!

This cirque show had more costume changes than any other show I’ve ever seen. Some artists made between 3-6 costume changes! Each one was delicately designed for atmospheric context as well as emotional context. Many of the female characters had specially designed costumes that appeared to be skirts but were discreetly pleated shorts to allow the artists to perform. This unique costume design was a detail that allowed them to really transform between characters. In most ice-skating performances there are two designs that a performer wears- a tight body suit or a thin, short skirt. I loved that cirque was able to go above and beyond even in the costume and props departments – some items were only on stage for a few short minutes but helped set the scene.

Despite all the new, the show still reminded me of other Cirque shows. There were some parallels between Crystal that were in Volta as well as the late show Wintuk. Not the same acts, but rather, small details that connected the shows and made me question whether these shows exist in the same universe. There were also some nods to Alice in Wonderland.

Something that I feel gets overlooked often in Cirque show reviews are the clowns. While Crystal only has one true clown (played by Nate Cooper), he did a great job in captivating the audience even before the show began. I was worried that the ice would limit his abilities to interact with both the audience and the characters, but his physical acting helped bring the audience into the atmosphere and made you feel like you were in the story too.